The Three Heart Mantras
The Three Heart Mantras are Bon Buddhist practices that help meditators develop different virtues of Buddha and experience their inherent nature(1).
Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.
-Buddha
Introduction
The Three Heart Mantras belong to the powerful Bon Buddhist practices that aim to awaken the practitioners’ mind so they can recognize their own potential(2). The mantras also help meditators to achieve healing and non-dual awareness. When practiced together, the three heart mantras lead to complete liberation. These powerful Three Heart Mantras are:
- Du Tri Su: This mantra is for healing, which leads to the transformation of suffering. The mantra helps strengthen the meditators’ vital energy. It can also clear obstacles in the practitioners’ and in the lives of others(2).
- Ma Tri: This mantra is believed to have the power to transform anger, hatred, ignorance, desire, attachment, envy, pride, and jealousy, into wisdom(2).
- Sa Le Od: This mantra is associated with the technique of meditating on the nature of the mind. It helps the meditators to connect with the purest form of their mind, and find freedom from dual awareness(2).
History/Origins
The Three Heart Mantras are key practices belonging to the Bon Buddhism traditions and they are foundations of the Ngondro(1). Ngondro is a set of practices that are performed by Tibetan Buddhists before specific deity practices(3)
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
-Buddha
The Five Warrior Syllables
The Five Warrior Syllables involves the singing or chanting of sacred syllables to harmonize the meditators’ physical, psychological, spiritual, and emotional health(1).
Introduction
The Five Warrior Syllables are chanted during Bon Buddhist meditation practices(1). The syllables are guided by the meditators’ mind and carried by their breathing through the body’s subtle energy channels. When the syllables are uttered, their sounds help to cure energy disturbance, leading to healing(1). By chanting the five Tibetan sacred syllables, the practitioners can awaken their creativity, courage, wisdom, and compassion.
It helps them to find the best possible expression of their humanity(1). The Five Warrior Syllables include A, Om, Hung, Ram, and Dza(4). These syllables are important original mantras from Buddhist meditation practices.
History/Origins
In the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual tradition, Five Warrior Syllables are popular and commonly practiced by many meditators(4). In Guru Yoga practice, A, Om, and Hung are commonly chanted or visualized during meditation as they are believed to have the power to enlighten the mind and body. Tibetan lamas even inscribe these syllables on sacred stupas, images, paintings, and photographs to authenticate and empower them(4).
You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.
-Buddha
Nine Breaths of Purification
Nine Breaths of Purification involves regulating the breath and becoming aware of each inhalation and exhalation. This practice of breath-based meditation can potentially reduce the meditators’ unnecessary attachments, ignorance, and aversions(1).
Introduction
According to Bon Buddhist traditions, human bodies have energy channels known as nadi or tsa(1). The life force or “prana” moves through these energy channels, and it can be regulated using the Nine Breaths of Purification meditation(1). It is a short technique that not only purifies the channels but also relaxes the meditators’ mind and body(5).
The Nine Breaths of Purification involves visualizing the three energy channels in the body: the blue central channel rises through the center of the body and goes up to the crown of the head(5). The side channels are attached to the central channel at the base, around four inches below the navel. They curve under the skull, pass down behind the eyes, and end at the nostrils(5). The Nine Breaths of Purification meditation requires the practitioners to take nine specific forms of breaths divided in three equal sets, as instructed by the Master(5).
History/Origins
The mention of the Nine Breaths of Purification technique can be found in multiple Tibetan texts(6). It is said in these texts that the practice can help when one’s vital breath cannot flow through the energy channels due to illness or any other obstruction(6). Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche also emphasized on the technique’s ability to cure a variety of discomforts. However, he believes that Nine Breaths of Purification meditation works best when the distress is personal and recent(6).
Benefits of Bon Buddhist Meditation
According to a study published in the European Journal of Integrative Medicine(7), mantra-based meditation techniques can improve mental health in the general population. It is suggested that the practices can be useful additions to wellbeing initiative programs in workplace and educational settings.
Another research article published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress(8) informs that breathing-based meditation methods can help people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The techniques can effectively reduce anxiety symptoms and respiration rate.
References
- ligmincha.org | Practice | Practices of Body & Breath
- olmoling.org | Essence of the Three Heart Mantras of Bon by Tempa Dukte Lama
- padmasambhava.org | An exploration of the Ngondro Practices by Khenpo Palden Sherab
- Shambhala | Tibetan Yogas of Body, Speech, and Mind by Tenzin Wangyal
- Motilal Banarsidass | The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
- Berghahn Books | Medicine Between Science and Religion: Explorations on Tibetan Grounds by Mona Schrempf and Sienna R. Crai
- European Journal of Integrative Medicine | Volume 23 | 2018 | Mantra Meditation for Mental Health in The General Population: A Systematic Review by Julie Lynch, Lucia Prihodova, Pádraic J. Dunne, Áine Carroll, Cathal Walsh, Geraldine McMahon and Barry White
- Journal of Traumatic Stress | Volume 27, Issue 4 | Breathing-Based Meditation Decreases Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in U.S. Military Veterans: A Randomized Controlled Longitudinal Study by Emma M Seppälä, Jack B Nitschke, Dana L Tudorascu, Andrea Hayes, Michael R Goldstein, Dong T H Nguyen, David Perlman and Richard J Davidson
